Please check out the brand new book detailing Israel’s deliberate attack on the USS LIBERTY here

NOVANEWS

Local media campaign and vigil remember and protest Israel’s 2008 assault on Gaza

December 27 – On the second anniversary of Israel’s three-week assault on Gaza, Seattle-area activists are launching a Metro bus ad campaign to expose the use of U.S. taxpayer money to support Israel’s ongoing crimes against the Palestinian people.Inspired by similar public advertising campaigns in Chicago, San Francisco, Albuquerque and other cities, the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign is launching the advertising campaign aimed at securing equal rights for Palestinians and Israelis, as well as an end to United States military aid to Israel, which continues at a time of economic crisis and severe budget cuts that have resulted in massive unemployment. A companion website atwww.stop30billion-Seattle.org suggests ways that people can get involved locally.

The initial campaign begins on 12 Metro bus routes in the city of Seattle, with the slogan “ISRAELI WAR CRIMES: Your Tax Dollars At Work”. The ads will run 4 weeks.

Seattle activists will also hold a vigil and protest in downtown Seattle on Monday, December 27, starting at 5:00 pm at 4th & Pine St. The walking vigil will be in memory of those killed in Israel’s assault on Gaza and in protest of Israel’s ongoing crimes against human rights.

December 27, 2008 was the first day of Israel’s three-week military offensive against the captive population of Gaza, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,400 Palestinians, most of them non-combatants, more than 300 of them children.

A formal inquiry by the United Nations found grounds for a criminal investigation into war crimes by Israel. The UN report concluded that Israel’s assault was not in self-defense, but was “a deliberately disproportionate attack designed to punish, humiliate and terrorize a civilian population”. Amnesty International found evidence that Israeli soldiers used Palestinian civilians as human shields, and Israeli soldiers have testified publicly to other human rights violations. Yet the U.S. government has pledged $30 billion in military aid to Israel over the next 10 years, even though the U.S. Arms Export Control Act prohibits the use of U.S. weapons against civilians.

An increasing number of US citizens are becoming aware of this issue. “I had never heard the whole story of the Israeli occupation. I never anticipated US complicity in Israel’s crimes. I had no idea,” says one volunteer with the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign. “When I began to learn the truth, it was like an avalanche. I became angry. Why all the lies? Why the blackout of information? Why the silence from our government?”

Another volunteer was in the West Bank during Israel’s assault on Gaza. “I was in Ramallah during the entire Operation Cast Lead – watching TV with people from Gaza in the evening in the hotel reception area, talking with our staff in Gaza each morning to see if they had survived the night of bombings.”

The Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign is incorporated in Washington State.

Seattle Mideast Awareness campaign is a non-profit, currently in application process for 501c3 status. Your donation IS tax deductable.

NOVANEWS

After Israel flap, Constantine bans certain bus ads

KING5 photo

King County Executive Dow Constantine on Thursday temporarily suspended all non-commercial advertising on Metro Buses following complaints about a planned bus ad that criticized Israel.

The ads from the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign read “Israeli War Crimes Your Tax Dollars At Work.”
In a statement, Constantine said he approved an interim policy that bans accepting any new non-commercial ads. The anti-Israel ads, which were to start appearing on buses in Seattle after Christmas, have been rejected, Constantine said.

“The escalation of this issue from one of 12 local bus placards to a widespread and often vitriolic international debate introduces new and significant security concerns that compel reassessment,” Constantine said. “We cannot and would not favor one point of view over another, so the entire category of non-commercial advertising will be eliminated until a permanent policy can be completed that I can propose to the King County Council for adoption.”

A new, permanent policy could be ready by the end of January.

County Councilman Peter von Reichbauer on Monday wrote to Constantine about his concerns, saying he’d been contacted by people who were worried about the ads from the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign.

Ed Mast, a spokesman for the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign, has said the ads were meant to get people talking about Mideast peace issues, not as an anti-Israel statement.

King County Metro’s current policy about bus advertising restricts messages about pornography, tobacco and alcohol and images and material that could threaten public safety.

This ad from the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign were scheduled to appear on the sides of 12 Metro buses on Seattle routes. Metro officials rejected the proposed ad Thursday.

Related

In a reversal of an earlier decision, Metro Transit said Thursday it would not allow a bus ad alleging “Israeli war crimes,” saying a flood of comments has convinced officials that service could be disrupted.

The ad, purchased by the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign, ties alleged Israeli war crimes to U.S. military aid. The ad had been set to run for a month on the sides of 12 buses starting next week.

Metro also rejected proposals for two counter ads.

“The escalation of this issue from one of 12 local bus placards to a widespread and often vitriolic international debate introduces new and significant security concerns that compel reassessment,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine.

Metro spokeswoman Linda Thielke earlier this week said lawyers had advised Metro that it couldn’t refuse to accept the “Israeli war crimes” ad under current agency policy.

Metro policy restricts advertising that, among other things, can be reasonably foreseen to result in harm to, disruption of, or interference with the transportation system.

“When we accepted the ad from Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign, we didn’t have any information to cause us to reasonably foresee that there could be a disruption to transit service,” Thielke said.

That changed once media locally, nationally and internationally ran the story and the comments started coming in, Thielke said. Metro customer service has received about 3,000 e-mails, and local elected officials thousands more.

That made officials concerned that running the ads “could’ve caused anything from vandalism to protests that met the buses,” she said.

Leaders of four Jewish organizations met Wednesday with King County officials, asking them to reconsider allowing the “Israeli war crimes” ad, saying local Jews had reason to fear the ad could bring harm to them. They mentioned how local Jewish institutions had increased security in recent years, and spoke of the 2006 shootings at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, in which one woman was killed.

Metro officials on Thursday also put in place a moratorium on accepting any new noncommercial advertising on King County buses until a new permanent advertising policy is in place. Metro is supposed to have a draft of a permanent policy to Constantine in January.

Ed Mast, spokesman for Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign, said he was disappointed by Metro’s decision.

He said his ads “weren’t disrupting Metro. There was no evidence that they were gong to disrupt.”

Rather, he said, “groups who wanted the ads silenced mounted a campaign to disrupt Metro. The disruptions were going to be from people who wanted the message silenced.”

He said he was examining all options and is talking to legal advisers.

“It’s a disturbing precedent that King County approved the ad in the first place and then gave in to public pressure on the content of the ad,” he said.

Amin Odeh, with Voices of Palestine, which supports the bus ad, said, “We know how powerful and aggressive the bullying by right-wing Jewish groups and their special-interest friends can be … . We’re very disappointed that this is going to affect not just our campaign. It also takes away free speech from us and other peace and justice groups.”

Amy Wasser-Simpson, vice president for planning and community services at the Jewish Federation, said the organization was relieved and grateful to hear about Metro’s decision “not to allow Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign’s divisive advertising to run on Seattle buses.”

Writer David Horowitz, of the Los Angeles-based David Horowitz Freedom Center, was one of several to propose a counter ad. His ad would have alleged “Palestinian war crimes.”

Horowitz said Thursday he was happy with Metro’s decision. “I believe that the civic space, which is what buses occupy, should be where community comes together and should not be a platform for polarizing political advertisements in the first place.”

Another counter ad, proposed by Stop Islamization of America, would have said: “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Islamic jihad,” according to a news release.

Metro will still run noncommercial ads that had already been accepted under the old policy, including those for MEOW Cat Rescue and King County Library System.

• Imposing unnecessary curfews and closures

• Exercising disproportionate use of force

Israel defies international law and hundreds of U.N. resolutions by:

• Refusing to end over 40 years of military occupation

• Expanding and adding Israeli settlements

• Building the Apartheid Wall to take over Palestinian land and water resources

• Denying the right of return for millions of Palestinian refugees

ETHNIC CLEANSING

In 1948, the State of Israel created a Jewish majority by destroying over 500 Palestinian towns and driving over 700,000 Palestinians out of their homeland. Ethnic cleansing continues today in the form of expulsions and Jewish-only settlements.

ILLEGAL ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS

Palestinians are driven off their land in the Occupied Territories to make room for Jewish-only settlements. These illegal settlements are funded by the Israeli government and are strategically placed to annex farmland and water resources. Israeli Jewish settlers have rights that are denied to their Palestinian neighbors.

REFUGEES

For over 60 years, Israel has defied international law by refusing to let Palestinian refugees return to their homes; the refugees of this expulsion and their descendents today number in the millions.

FALSE PEACE PROCESSES

The 1993 Oslo Accords created a powerless Palestinian Authority whose only real authority was to maintain the military occupation for Israel. The 2000 Camp David II talks offered Palestinians not a state, but a series of reservations, subdivided by Israeli settlements and settler roads, controlled by Israel and the Israeli military.

Through all peace negotiations, Israel has continued building more Jewish-only settlements, driving more Palestinians off their land, and killing more Palestinians.

THE UNITED STATES SUBSIDIZES

ISRAEL with more annual aid than we provide to all of sub-Saharan Africa and poverty-stricken Latin America combined. The U.S. also provides Israel with military technology: our helicopters, drones and bombs are killing Palestinians, costing us enormous amounts of taxpayer funds, and doing severe damage to our national security and international relationships.

This conflict is not a struggle between equals. This is a powerful, well-armed state imposing a military dictatorship on another people.

NOVANEWS

Dec 29, 2010

Freedom of speech? NOT IN SEATTLE AND NOT WHEN IT COMES TO ISRAEL. We are joined by pro-Palestinian rights activist Edward Mast of http://stop30billion-seattle.organd the recent censorship campaign waged by you-know-who against his group in wanting to let the people of Seattle know that their tax money is going to support Israel and her racist, apartheid system against the Palestinians.

NOVANEWS

A puzzling new poem, reportedly written by Osama bin Laden in the wake of 9-11, is here presented to the world for the first time in an edited translation. The reader is asked to decide whether the poem, prophesying Armageddon and the coming destruction of America, is an authentic bin Laden poem or an imitation.

On May 16, 2007, on my twenty-ninth birthday, a beautifully written manuscript in calligraphic script fell into my hands in India. This was simply a series of sentences separated by diagonal strokes (/) which purported to be a literal, word-for-word paraphrase in English of an extended poem written in Arabic by Osama bin Laden in the immediate aftermath of 9-11.

Bits had been added to the manuscript (in the broad margins) over the intervening years. These served as commentaries and clarifications. The poem was divided into several parts, each headed by a symbol which I took to be a letter of the Arabic alphabet.

The scary title of the manuscript: DEATH TO AMERICA.

I was given to understand that various versions of this poem, both in Arabic and Urdu, had begun to circulate in late 2001 in the tea houses of Rawalpindi, Karachi and Lahore. One such version of the poem had been obtained by my Sanskrit tutor, Bengali poet Ananda Kumar Bannerji, while vacationing with his family in Srinagar, Kashmir. He handed me the manuscript in Pondicherry, South India, at the Sri Aurobindo ashram at which both of us happened to be staying at the time. He asked me what I thought of the poem.

I was in no position to judge the “authenticity” of the mishmash of ravings that confronted me; nor did I attempt to do so at that stage.

Being a poet-translator myself, I decided on an impulse—and purely as a literary exercise—to translate into rhymed English verse the somewhat disconnected scraps that had come my way. It seemed to me that this fascinating material, which was essentially a rant of rage against Western civilization in general and America in particular, would provide a useful clue to Americans who keep asking, “Why do they hate us?”

The intelligent reader may be wondering at this point if his leg is being pulled. Did Osama bin Laden actually write this hysterical diatribe? Is there the slightest evidence that such a poem ever existed in the original Arabic? There are certainly no traces of such a maledictory poem in existence right now, either in Arabic or Urdu or in any other language, as far as I know. Bin Laden was of course a skilled poet, and many of his poems have been translated into English, but did he write this one?

My own view is that it is not altogether certain that bin Laden is the author of this particular poem, though the possibility cannot be discounted. He may have written it originally in the wake of 9-11 and added bits to it over the years, e.g., the references to the Iraq war and the Abu Ghraib scandal which surfaced in early 2004. To a large extent, it would depend on whether bin Laden was the evil genius behind 9-11. If he was, this would obviously increase the chances that he had written the poem—for in the poem he gloats over America’s humiliation on September 11, 2001, and predicts more 9-11’s to come.

Nowhere in the poem, however, does bin Laden accept personal responsibility for 9-11. He is pleased that the act was done, but so were thousands of other people throughout the world who celebrated the event with champagne parties and dancing in the streets—as Tariq Ali revealed in the introduction of his excellent book The Clash of Fundamentalisms.

* * *

What finally persuaded me to offer this poem up for publication, given that it has been gathering dust on my shelves for the last three years? I guess the time is right. It would be a shame to let the poem lie around unread. The material has curiosity value. It provides, moreover, an insight into the terrorist mind. It is certainly a shocking poem, though its shock potential would have been far greater if there had been proof that Osama bin Laden had actually written it. There is no such proof.

Indeed, there is no proof that Osama bin Laden orchestrated 9-11 at all.

The only “proof” that Al Qaeda was behind 9-11 is that the American government and the notoriously unreliable and mendacious mainstream mass media say so. Beyond this authoritative assertion of fact—an assertion that becomes increasingly unconvincing by the day—there is no proof whatever for the claim that bin Laden orchestrated 9-11. There is certainly no scientific evidence for such a claim.

Indeed, contrary to government claims, newly released evidence points to the theory that the World Trade Center twin towers must have been brought down by the prior placement of nanothermite and other powerful explosives within the buildings. (See here).

* * *

Here are some relevant facts the reader would do well to consider before reading the poem.

Though many taped messages have purportedly been issued by Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, not one of them after September 9, 2002 has been authenticated as genuine by independent experts such as theDalle Molle Institute for Perceptual Artificial Intelligence, based in Martigny, Switzerland. (Institut Dalle Molle d’Intelligence Artificielle Perceptive, now the IDIAP Research Institute).

The only “experts” to validate the later bin Laden tapes have been those same intelligence agencies whose reputation for deceiving the public is now legendary.

Thus genuine videotapes delivered to al-Jazeera TV in late 2001, featuring an emaciated and white-bearded bin Laden disclaiming responsibility for 9-11, offer a bizarre contrast to the obviously fake bin Laden video tape of November 9, 2001—a tape conveniently “discovered” by American soldiers in an abandoned house in Jalalabad. Here a suspiciously plump and black-bearded Osama is suddenly found fessing up to 9-11.

Bin Laden was not a man given to lying. On September 17, 2001 he issued a message to al-Jazeera, disclaiming all responsibility for 9-11.

I stress that I have not carried out this act, which appears to have been carried out by individuals with their own motivation.” (17 Sept. 2001)….“I have already said that I am not involved in the 11 September attacks in the United States. As a Muslim, I try my best to avoid telling a lie. I had no knowledge of these attacks… (28 Sept. 2001). See hereand here.

Bin Laden is now almost certainly dead. An obituary notice announcing his funeral appeared in al-Wafd (an Egyptian newspaper) on December 26, 2001. It became perfectly safe after this date to issue bogus bin Laden tapes ad nauseam, threatening the west with fire and brimstone, given that the real Osama was no longer around to deny the authenticity of the same tapes.

All these fake tapes and phoney bin Laden lookalikes are surely signs of acute desperation. The perpetrators of Abu Ghraib have not only lost the moral high ground—they have lost the war on terror.

* * *

Here now is the 4-part poem purportedly penned by Osama bin Laden in the wake of 9-11. I have translated the English paraphrase I received into 8-line rhyming stanzas based on a strict A-B-C-D-B-A-C-D rhyming scheme. This was because the original Arabic, according to my friend Mr Bannerjee, was couched in the complicated rhyming prose found in the Qur’an.

The reader is asked to make allowances for the apocalyptic language. This is all part of the original. Toning it down so as to make it more palatable to Western tastes would be self-defeating. Decide for yourself if this is a genuine Osama bin Laden poem, penned by the Master Terrorist himself, or if it is an imitation

One final point: I would like to assure the reader that, in submitting this poem for publication, I am not myself the perpetrator of a puerile literary hoax. I did not write this poem myself, nor am I receiving either fame or fortune from its publication. I have merely translated, in good faith, a prose paraphrase of someone else’s rendition of an extended poem in Arabic reportedly written by Osama bin Laden in late 2001 and added to subsequently by bin Laden himself or other scribe(s). If there are any Western resonances in the poem (e.g., “shooting fish in a barrel”), this is because my version is presented through the prism of my own personality and bears the stamp of my style and character. This is not only a translation, remember, it is a translation of a translation. Many of the ideas sketched in the poem, particularly in Part 3 which is about Israel, are clearly out of date and erroneous. The idea that Israel is an American colony is one such wrong idea.

Here now is the poem: an extended malediction of America and a prophecy of its impending doom.

Death to America

Do what you can, and so shall we. Just wait!—we too are waiting.

— Qur’an XI. 121-22

1. The Great Satan America! The inhabitants of the earthAre drunkWith the wine of your fornications!You have given birthTo terror, hatred, hysteria!Your people are sunkIn stupefaction.Darkness has come upon you.NeverthelessYou think you live in the light.Your eyes have been blinded.Your people stumble in darkness.Greed has undone you.Pride and lust are your blight.God’s sees, and has minded!Miserable crew, forever whiningAbout 9/11 and your precious virtue!—As if you alone had known painAnd the world were under obligationTo kiss your feet and court youAnd approach you with shiningEyes—you blot, you stain!—You object of utter detestation!Country of murderers and thieves,Bloodsuckers of the Third World,Devils with smiling faces—My curse on you for ever!May your land be reduced to a wildDesolation, may all that livesIn your tainted spacesNever know peace—or joy—ever!

2. The Coming DoomWhere your people once livedSecure in the illusionOf their superior virtue,There the bison will roamAgain, the frog spread confusionOver the marshes, the vulture thrive.There’ll be none to hurt youThere, buried beneath your slime!Another people will possess your landTaking your place, a raceFrom beyond the sea, superiorIn virtue: one that practisesWhat you only preach, showing a faceOf kindness and compassion andCare for mankind: a race far dearerTo God, and less prone to vices.You brew trouble, you foment warsSo you can peddle your arms.Pain screamsFrom the mouths of children soThat your hatchers of harmCan trinket their whoresAnd live the American dream.That way lies hell, and there you go!You defile all the regions you rule,You scatter your bases and robThe lands you begrime and bescum!Who helps to kill children for kicksIn Palestine? May Abu GhraibGnaw away at your inmost soulLike a maggot! The time will comeWhen your backs will be beaten by sticks!

3. The Holy LandIsrael!—an American colonyDisguised as a Jewish state,Deliberately planted to destabilizeAnd drive entire races demented!A country whose main product is hate,Whose raison d-être is to make misery,Where peace would be the only surprise!A country not owned, but rentedFrom the Arabs temporarily, by force—Where the rent is always in arrears.America, the day will comeWhen the rent will have to be paidWith compound interest. You’ll reap in tearsWhat you sowed in joy! At the end of this course,You will pick up the tab and becomeChief debtor for the monster you made!See, the betrayer of the Jews—The Jews themselves! Or ratherThose who call themselves Jews, the pseudoAshkenazi Jews with their blue eyesAnd blonde hair! Could any race be furtherFrom the true Semitic Jews whoseBlended blood has been poured intoOther bloods under alien skies?These are the ones, the hocus-pocusImposter Jews, who now blow the trumpetFor Zion, stigmatizingTheir critics, and heaping abuseOn those who object to the rank armpitOf Israel!—Oh, how we loathe these bogusEuropean Jews whose devisingsWere all learnt from Hitler’s hellcrews.

4. The Day of ReckoningSeptember 11? That was justThe beginning! Prepare for moreOf the same!—for further contingentsOf “cowards” hell bent on suicideFlying in to your hated shores!How can you win? You’ve already lost!You’ve lost respect: the moral argument. You are universally despised!Invincible America, aren’t you gladYou’re so strong? What “courage” it must takeTo skulk behind the clouds and rainCluster bombs on the weak, without perilTo your own skins! Yes, it’s a piece of cake Killing women and children in Baghdad!Congratulations, America! You winFirst prize for shooting fish in a barrel!Hear now my message: DepartFrom our lands: you have your own.Don’t steal our oil! It lies underOur sands, and there it shall stay!Get out of our sight! Leave us alone!Practise the torturer’s artOn your own people! I wonderWhat Christ would think of Camp X-ray?Nation of impudent parasites!—Supervirus of the world!—So you think you hold all the aces?Hear now my curse: May all your bones Be broken, your ashes all whirledTo the wind! May you who delightIn sowing tares in all placesREAP, REAP, REAP WHAT YOU HAVE SOWN!

* * *

Whatever the authenticity of the poem, what comes through is an almost visceral hatred of the West for its hypocrisy in wittering on about human rights while carrying on a war against Islam; for its addiction to personal vices—greed, pride, and lust; for its history of Third World exploitation; for its sponsorship of Israel, “a country whose main product is hate.” The poem is a call for jihad against the West and America in particular and it predicts victory for Islam-by “a race superior in virtue: one that practises what you only preach.”

Questions of equal importance are these, though this is obviously not the time or place to address them: Is bin Laden a paper tiger? Is Al Qaeda a myth? Are Islamic “terrorists” a figment of the neoconservative imagination? Was 9-11 orchestrated as an excuse to wage war on the Muslim world and plunder its resources? It is now a well-entrenched “conspiracy theory” that 9-11 was a false flag attack that gave the neoconservatives what they had long been looking for: a pretext to attack Iraq and Afghanistan and launch a crusade against the Islamic world. In the words of Professor David Ray Griffin, 9-11 was “the New Pearl Harbor.”

We need to ask ourselves how many Muslims, in revenge for 9-11, have now been killed and maimed by America—”supervirus of the world” and “universally despised”—in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, the West Bank and Gaza. How many more innocents are expected to die “like fish in a barrel” in Iran, Syria and Lebanon in future wars orchestrated by neoconservatives in Washington (many of them with Israeli passports) for the sole benefit of Israel?

One would think that Al Qaeda, having pulled off 9-11 with such ease, would get its act together and assassinate every single neoconservative in America. To quote Paul Craig Robertswriting in VDARE, a highly respected political columnist and former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury:

If Muslims were capable of pulling off 9/11, they are certainly capable of assassinating Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Perle, Feith, Libby, Condi Rice, Kristol, Bolton, Goldberg, and scores of others during the same hour of the same day..The argument is not believable that a government that was incapable of preventing 9/11 is so all-knowing that it can prevent assassination of unprotected neocons..Try to imagine the propaganda value of terrorists wiping out the neoconservatives in one fell swoop, followed by an announcement that every member of the federal government down to the lowest GS, every member of the House and Senate, and every governor wasnext in line to be bumped off.

Makes you think, doesn’t it? Bin Laden must be smiling in his grave.

Posted in USAComments Off on ‘DEATH TO AMERICA’: A NEW POEM BY OSAMA BIN LADEN?

How we all miss the good old days? Useful idiot dictator longs for an unquestioning, clueless Washington elite to prop up his regime (not that the Obama administration is much different):

Longing for the early years of the Bush administration, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been consumed by anti-U.S. conspiracy theories, convinced American officials are now working against him, according to a diplomatic cable from the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan.

The cable was sent in July 2009, which would become the deadliest month for foreign troops since the 2001 invasion. The surge in casualties resulted from an offensive to oust the Taliban in opium-rich Helmand Province, as well as the increasing power of roadside bombs. On July 7, when Amb. Karl Eikenberry met with Karzai, the Afghan president was looking backward rather than forward, wistfully longing for the early days of the Bush administration, which he referred to as a “golden age.”

“Karzai then returned to a familiar theme, his wish for Afghan-U.S. relations to recover the spirit of 2002-04 — a periodKarzai sees as a ‘golden age’ in the relationship,” wrote Eikenberry in a July 16 cable obtained by WikiLeaks and published by The New York Times. “He would like for U.S. forces to again be able to drive their humvees through villages, greeted warmly by villagers who would shout, ‘Good morning, Sergeant Thompson.’ Karzai claimed, as he has many times, that his concern over the erosion of public trust in the U.S. was a driving factor in his increasingly strident criticism regarding civilian casualties, night raids and detentions.”

Eikenberry took issue with Karzai’s characterization of that period being a “golden age” — and reminded him that he should be looking forward to the future rather than back to the past. Even in 2002-2004, Eikenberry told Karzai, it was clear that “trouble was brewing as the focus on security and reconstruction drifted and declined due to lack of resources and a comprehensive strategy.”

If The Australian was a member of your family you would’ve arranged an intervention by now to stop further self-harm. If it was a bloke you would suspect it of having a very small penis. Has anyone ever seen a major institution so addled with insecurities? How else to explain the amount of space they devote to writing about themselves, defending their actions, and justifying their crusades?

The country’s only national newspaper, and one that provides a home for some of our best journalists, turned itself into a laughing stock in 2010.

From their ridiculous ‘outing’ of a blogger who used a pseudonym (WikiLeaks, eat your heart out!), to the editor’s decision to sue an academic who reported what she heard at a conference, to last week’s feature article in which they attacked every other media outlet for not being enough like them, it has been a stellar year of own-goals for our self-styled most important newspaper evah.

Unfortunately for the Oz, they lack an embarrassment gene and seem to enjoy casting themselves as a victim, so don’t expect much of an improvement in 2011.

Rumour is they will be erecting a paywall around their content sometime next year. Probably a good thing: their particular brand of onanism is best conducted in private.

Former French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner in January 2010 had already discussed with the US the idea of recognizing a Palestinian state regardless of the outcome of negotiations with Israel, a US cable released by WikiLeaks revealed.

The cable was written by US ambassador to France Charles Rivkin to prepare US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her first bilateral trip to France since entering into her position.

“The French agree with us on the need to help [Palestinian Authority] President [Mahmoud] Abbas return to the negotiating table by offering assistance programs, guarantees, and the support of Arab leaders. However Kouchner also mentioned to SE [George] Mitchell the controversial idea of offering to recognize a Palestinian state now, with undefined borders, or offering to recognize a Palestinian state within a defined timeline, regardless of the outcome of negotiations,” the cable stated.

Rivkin labeled French President Nicolas Sarkozy as “impatient” in regard to the Middle East peace process, saying he often tries to rush events ahead of US plans.

Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and Uruguay recently decided to formally recognize a fully independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.

On Friday, I was detained by Border Police officers in Nabi Saleh along with another Israeli. We were handcuffed behind our backs, thrown to the ground and beaten. The other Israeli was beaten much worse than I. His head was smashed against the ground and he was kicked repeatedly in the stomach. All of this happened in front ofa Palestinian Btselem photographer who captured the whole thing on video. After the beating, we were then detained and held in a Jerusalem prison for thirty hours. This story is only unique because it happened to Jews.

It is almost a daily ritual for Palestinians in the West Bank. The border police commander who led the beating gave us a clear explanation for his actions while in the police station when he said, ‘don’t come back to Nabi Saleh you piece of shit.” Israel does not want Israelis in Nabi Saleh documenting the ruthless and brutal repression of Palestinian unarmed demonstrations. The state will go to shocking lengths to intimidate, beat and detain us. One has to experience it to fully believe it.

In the coming days I will publish a more detailed account of my detention and the harassment which I experienced. In the meantime, I would like to draw your attention to a video just released by Btselem documenting a solider beating a Palestinian Btselem photographer. The photographer was on his own land when the soldier attacked him. No charges will be filed against this soldier.

The Wikileaks revolution isn’t only about airing secrets and transacting information. It’s about dismantling large organizations—from corporations to government bureaucracies. It may well lead to their extinction.

Is it actually possible that one day Israelis — Jewish Israelis — would choose to give up democracy in order to maintain Israel’s Jewish voting majority?

…

Let’s just say, as a hypothetical, that one day in the near future, Prime Minister Lieberman’s government (don’t laugh, it’s not funny) proposes a bill that echoes the recent call by some rabbis to discourage Jews from selling their homes to Arabs. Or let’s say that Lieberman’s government annexes swaths of the West Bank in order to take in Jewish settlements, but announces summarily that the Arabs in the annexed territory are in fact citizens of Jordan, and can vote there if they want to, but they won’t be voting in Israel. What happens then? Do the courts come to the rescue? I hope so. Do the Israeli people come to the rescue? I’m not entirely sure. There are many Israelis who value democracy, but they might not possess the strength to fight. Does American Jewry come to the rescue? Well, most of American Jewry would be so disgusted by Israel’s abandonment of democratic principles that I think the majority would simply write off Israel as a tragic, failed experiment.

Zimbabwe is to investigate bringing treason charges against the prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, and other individuals over confidential talks with US diplomats revealed by WikiLeaks.

Johannes Tomana, the attorney general, said he would appoint a commission of five lawyers to examine whether recent disclosures in leaked US embassy cables amount to a breach of the constitution. A cable dated 24 December 2009 suggested Tsvangirai privately insisted sanctions “must be kept in place”.

High treason in Zimbabwe can result in the death penalty. Tomana told the state-owned Herald newspaper: “With immediate effect, I am going to instruct a team of practising lawyers to look into the issues that arise from the WikiLeaks.

“The WikiLeaks appear to show a treasonous collusion between local Zimbabweans and the aggressive international world, particularly the United States.”

NOVANEWS

I am a trained medical doctor with a specialization in child health. I completed my MBBS from the Christian Medical College, Vellore in 1972, and completed studies leading to the award of the degree of MD (Paediatrics) of the Madras University, from the same institution in 1976. After this, I joined the faculty of the Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi and worked there for two years, before leaving to join a field based health programme at the Friends Rural Centre, Rasulia in Hoshangabad, MP.

During the two years I worked there, I worked intensively in the diagnosis and treatment of Tuberculosis and understood many of the social and economic causes of disease. I was also strongly influenced by the work of Marjorie Sykes, the biographer of Mahatma Gandhi, who lived at the Rasulia centre at that time.

I came to Chhattisgarh in 1981 and worked upto 1987 at Dalli Rajhara (district Durg), where, along with the late Shri Shankar Guha Niyogi and the workers of the Chhattisgarh Mines Shramik Sangh, I helped to establish the Shaheed Hospital, that continues to practice low cost and rational medicine for the adivasis and working people of the surrounding areas upto the present. After leaving Dalli Rajhara, I worked to develop a health programme among the Adivasi population in and around village Bagrumnala, which today is in Dhamtari district.

This work depended on a large group of village based health workers who were trained and guided by me. When the new state of Chhattisgarh was formed, I was appointed a member of the advisory group on Health Care Sector reforms, and helped to develop the Mitanin programme, which in turn, became the role model for the ASHA of the National Rural Health Mission. A copy of the Order of the Department of Health and Family Welfare of the Govt. of Chhattisgarh regarding my nomination to the advisory group mentioned above is attached. (Annexure 1.)

My work in the area of community health, as well as my work on Human Rights which is detailed below, has been nationally and internationally recognized. I have been awarded the Paul Harrison Award by the CMC Vellore in 2004; the RR Keithan Gold medal by the Indian Academy of Social Sciences in 2007; and have received the Jonathan Mann award for Health and Human rights from the Global Health Council in 2008. I am attaching notarized copies of the citations of these awards with this statement, and am carrying the originals for the perusal of the court. (Annexures 2, 3, 4 and 5)

I have been a member of the Peoples’ Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) since 1981. The PUCL is an organization devoted to the preservation of constitutional civil liberties and human rights that was founded by the late Shri Jayprakash Narayan during the years of the Emergency. In Chhattisgarh, as well as in many other parts of the country, the PUCL led the campaign for the preservation of the freedom of speech, prevention of custodial violence, and for the public accountability of the police. I became General Secretary of the Chhattisgarh unit of the PUCL in 2004, and am currently the President of the State unit, and Vice President of its National body.

In Chhattisgarh, the PUCL has been in the forefront of exposing the atrocities of the police. Atrocities by men in uniform against vulnerable sections continue to be a serious problem in the state, as the front page news item in the “Sunday Times” dated 12th September 2010, annexed hereto as Annexure 6 shows. In this situation PUCL’s efforts were always directed towards the establishment of good governance and constitutional values. PUCL findings and investigations were always made available in the public domain through press releases and its own publications.

One such Press Release reporting investigation into police atrocities in Village Jiramtarai, Thana Koylibeda is annexed hereto as Annexure 7. The report of one such investigation pertaining to police atrocities in Katgaon (Kanker district) was published in the “Navbharat” and “Deshbandhu” newspapers which are annexed hereto as Annexure 8and 9 respectively. A PUCL publication on the State of Human Rights in Chhattisgarh is appended to this statement. (Annexure 10). In this connection PUCL regularly corresponded with the National and State Human Rights Commissions.Copies of some of the letters sent to the PUCL by the National Human Rights Commission (collectively) and the State Human Rights Commission are attached to this statement. (Annexure 11 and 12)

Apart from investigating and documenting many cases of Human Rights abuse involving the police, the PUCL has acted as a whistleblower in the matter of exposing the true nature of the Salwa Judum. The Salwa Judum, which began in the Dantewada district in 2005, has been represented by the state government as a spontaneous peoples’ movement against the Maoists active in the area. However, an investigation led by the PUCL and involving several other Human Rights organizations revealed that it was in reality a state sponsored and state funded as well as completely unaccountable vigilante force, to which arms were provided by the government.

The activities of the Salwa Judum have led to the emptying of more than 600 villages, and the forced displacement of over 60,000 people. Concerns regarding the activities of the Salwa Judum have been expressed by several independent organizations including the National Human Rights Commission. International organizations like the UNICEF have also voiced serious concern and have invited me to dialogue with them about the restoration of normalcy in the region affected by Salwa Judum.

The Hon’ble Supreme Court has also, on several occasions, expressed its grave concern over the activities of the Salwa Judum and the deployment of armed vigilantes for the promotion of state policy. This has been widely reported in the press. A Table with an indicative list of agencies that have made critical observations on the Salwa Judum is attached (Annexure 13). A copy of the report on the Salwa Judum by the Chhattisgarh PUCL and other organizations (Annexure 14), and copies of the investigation reports on the Salwa Judum brought out by the Independent Citizens Initiative and Asian Centre for Human Rights are being filed along with this statement (Annexure 15 and 16 respectively).

An invitation from the UNICEF, Chhattisgarh Regional Office to participate in a dialogue to seek a resolution to the crisis in Dantewada as a fallout of the Salwa Judum is similarly attached to my statement (Annexure 17).Press reports in the Hitavada, dated 23.10.2010 pertaining to the Hon. Supreme Court’s critical observations are attached (Annexure no 29), as are Certified copies of Supreme Court orders that make critical observations on the Salwa Judum are also being attached (Annexure 18)

The PUCL has also, during 2006, organized two major conventions, opposing the proposal to enact the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, because it has been, and continues to be, our view that this Act contravenes the civil liberties assured to us in the constitution. I have expressed these views in the Press as well, and am attaching with this submission a copy of newspaper carrying a press report of such a convention (Annexure 19), as well as a copy of the newspaper “Chhattisgarh” dated 30th March 2006 in which my interview appears in this regard. (Annexure 20) A Civil Writ Petition (Writ Petition No 2163/2009) challenging the vires of the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act has been filed by the PUCL in the Chhattisgarh High Court. Certified copies of the Court orders admitting this petition and issuing notice are being filed along with this statement (Annexure 21).

For all the reasons mentioned above, the Chhattisgarh police and the state government have harboured a grudge against me, and the then DGP of Chhattisgarh, Mr OP Rathore, has gone on record threatening to take action against the PUCL and its office bearers. Copies of a newspaper of 3rd January 2006 carrying a report to this effect are attached to my statement. (Annexure 22)

I have been concerned with the rights of prisoners in my capacity as a Human Rights worker and was approached by the family of Mr Narayan Sanyal to look after his health and well being after he was brought to Raipur jail in 2006. My first visit to him in jail was in the company of his family and lawyer. Subsequently, I obtained permission from the police authorities for visiting him in jail, and visited him several times, each time applying to do so in my capacity as a PUCL office bearer. After my visits, I informed his family members about his condition over the telephone.

During the course of these visits, it was brought to my notice that the surgery on his hands that was necessary for medical purposes, was being delayed due to communication problems between the jail and the doctors in the Raipur Medical College.

I played a role in facilitating his surgery and kept his family informed about the process. During this period there was considerable correspondence between the prisoner’s family, jail administration and medical authorities, of which copies were marked to me. I attach along with this statement copies of the letter written by Mr Radha Madhav Sanyal (brother of Narayan Sanyal) to the Jail Superintendent with a copy to me (Annexure 23); copies of my applications to visit Mr Narayan Sanyal in jail which were obtained through an application under the RTI (Annexure 24); copy of the written permission given to me by Shri BS Maravi, Senior Superintendent of Police, Raipur (Annexure 25) and copies of the correspondence from the Jail authorities to the medical doctors mentioned above with copies marked to me (Annexure 26).

It was with similar concern for the situation of prisoners that I acted upon the letter received in the post from one Madanlal Barkhade about prison conditions in the Raipur Central Jail. I released his letter to the press in Raipur and attach the newspaper in which the aforesaid letter was published. (Annexure 27)

The documents seized from my house during the house search on 19.5.2007 were those of concern to me in the ordinary and transparent conduct of my work. Human rights organizations from all over the country used to send me books, pamphlets and documents, and there were thousands of these lying in my residence, which I also used as my office. None of the seized documents had been secretly or clandestinely obtained. Document No. A 19 was sent to me by post by Shri Govindan Kutty, Editor, Peoples’ March. Document no A 20, purported to be written by Madanlal Barkhade was similarly received by me in the regular post. The document A 21 was sent to me by Dr Kalpana Kannabiran, one of the authors of the article, then Professor at the National Law School Hyderabad, by e-mail.

Article A 22, photocopy of a hand written document, and Articles A 23 and A 36 were available for distribution at a seminar on the Salwa Judum organized by the Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi in January, 2007, to which I was invited , and were picked up by me there. Article A 24 was received by me in the post. Newspaper clippings A 25 to A 35 are newspaper clippings that I had maintained in furtherance of my interest in the emerging situation in Chhattisgarh.

Several policemen in the search party were involved in the process of the search at my house. Having found a document, the person finding it would hand it over to Mr Rajput. Mr Rajput would first read it, and then hand it over to me for my signature. He would also sign it himself. After we had both put our signatures on the document, he would dictate to TI Jagrit what was to be written in the seizure memo. Mr Jagrit would then make the entry, following which Mr Rajput would then hand over the document to Mr Jagrit.

In this manner, each document was seized, signed, and entered in the seizure memo. None of the documents were signed by the public witnesses in my presence. Nor were the documents sealed in my presence. At the end of the search process the documents were carried away in a paper bag in an unsealed condition. Document A37 was never received by me to sign. It was not in my office, and was not seized during the search. It was fabricated after the search by the police to implicate me falsely.

When the challan in my case was filed, my advocate, Mr Amit Banerjee was present in court and received the chargesheet on my behalf.A copy of the chargesheet is annexed hereto as Annexure 28. Upon going through the charegesheet, we noticed that in the copies of articles A 19 to A 24, the signatures of the panch witnesses were not present in the documents. Copies of articles A 25 to A 37 were not supplied to us at the time.

Despite a court order, the contents of the computer were copied onto DVDs without the presence of my advocate, and only DVDs of selected material from the computer were supplied later during the course of the trial. Out of the DVDs supplied, three relate to investigation of police atrocities / fake encounters in Golapally, Jiramtarai and Katgaon. My images on these tapes are in conversation with the villagers who are affected by these atrocities.

I have never seen Deepak Chaubey (PW7) until the time he testified in the court. I did not introduce Narayan Sanyal to him and his story that Narayan Sanyal was arrested from his house is patently untrue as, in fact, Sanyal was arrested in Bhadrachalam.

I submit that my prosecution is malafide; in fact it is a persecution. I am being made an example of by the state government of Chhattisgarh as a warning to others not to expose the patent trampling of human rights taking place in the state. Documents have been fabricated by the police and false witnesses introduced in order to falsely implicate me.

Binayak Sen.

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NOVANEWS

Dear Dorothy,

Step by step, day by day, committing ourselves to the actions that move us all closer to a just world. All of them matter, in ways big and small. But sometimes, our actions capture the attention of people all over the country, and the world – and the world changes. Your support is what makes it happen.

By now, many have heard about theYoung, Jewish, and Proud members at the national gathering of Jewish federations where Bibi Netanyahu proclaimed that the movement for peace, justice andequality in Israel and Palestine, the movement to end the Israeli Occupation, is a movement todelegitimize Israel. And one by one,each of these young leaders bravely stood up in front of thousands of unbelievably hostile people and chanted the text on their banners, right in themiddle of Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s speech:

“I’m Young, Jewish, and Proud and the Loyalty Oath delegitimizes Israel”“I’m Young, Jewish, and Proud and the Occupation delegitimizes Israel”“I’m Young, Jewish, and Proud and the Settlements delegitimize Israel“

The members of Young, Jewish, and Proudcourageously faced a shocked, angry and in some cases violent crowd, but they did not stand down. They knew the world was watching. And they knew that whatever they risked, it would be a small price compared to the risks their Palestinian friends take every day in their steadfast commitment to resisting occupation and seeking full equality and democracy.

From our very inception, Jewish Voice for Peace has been dedicated to building a movement, and our amazing network of activist members commit extraordinary amounts of time and energy to making that happen. Our founders understood that without a mass movement supporting a just peace in the Middle East, no Beltway strategy or diplomatic negotiations could truly succeed.

Because you’ve been a part of JVP – as a donor, and perhaps as a member, activist, or supporter of an allied organization – you may already know that JVP’s work is not to make change while others watch on the sidelines– it is to inspire you to find your voice, to speak your truth, to feel supported so that you can continue to act courageously to transform the world around you and experience the exhilaration of speaking truth to power, just as the young adults of Young, Jewish, and Proud did; just as so many of you have been doing for years, if not decades.